Isn't it obvious?
by Sarah1281
Summary: After another Chamber of Secrets incident, Myrtle takes it upon herself to explain to her Potions class exactly what has been attacking everybody. Unfortunately, it's Potions with Slytherin.


Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter.

"P-professor Slughorn!" a terrified young Hufflepuff burst into fifth year Potions.

"Yes, Evans?" Professor Slughorn asked, looking up.

"There's been another attack!"

"I'll be right there," Slughorn said, halfway to the door. "Tom, watch the class."

"Yes, sir," said Tom Riddle, the Slytherin Prefect, standing up.

The class remained quiet until the door closed behind their Professor. Then the murmuring began.

"That's the third one this month!"

"When are they going to catch them?"

"It's probably a Slytherin."

"Hey!"

"Well, can you imagine a Hufflepuff doing this?"

"Well, no, but-"

"What do you reckon it even is?"

"Isn't it obvious?" a voice asked quietly.

Every head turned to stare at the girl with dark hair who dared to claim knowledge of the monster behind the attacks.

"What do you mean?" Tom Riddle finally asked.

"I meant what I said. Isn't it obvious?"

"Isn't what obvious, Myrtle?" Tom asked patiently.

"What's attacking the students," she replied.

"Not really, no, I don't think so. Do you have some idea?" he asked.

"Yes. Yes I do."

"Well? Don't just keep us in suspense, Myrtle, dear," a blonde girl from Slytherin said sarcastically.

Myrtle straightened her glasses. "Well, Olive, we're all operating under the assumption that this is the monster from the Chamber of Secrets, right?"

"Naturally, who else but Slytherin could set up such an ingenious method of ridding the world of Mudbloods?" Olive asked, dismissively.

"You know, you don't have to be so obviously evil," Myrtle told her. "And how do you know it's so ingenious, anyway?"

"Well, if it wasn't ingenious, why would it still be around all these years later?" Olive asked, logically.

"Valid point, I guess," Myrtle conceded. "But back to the point all agree this is Slytherin's creature, right?"

Everyone nodded except Tom, who preferred to stay out of such speculation.

"Right. So what was Slytherin most famous for? Parseltongue. The ability to talk to snakes."

"What are you suggesting?" Tom asked suddenly.

"Slytherin wanted his work to be finished, but he had no way of knowing how long it would be until the Chamber could be opened. He wouldn't know who he could trust, save his own descendents. After all, if he could raise his own children to hate Muggle-borns, they could teach their children to hate them, and so on and so forth."

"That doesn't prove anything," another blonde Slytherin countered. "Any Pureblood family can pass along their healthy disdain for Muggles."

"Exactly my point, Abraxas. Slytherin could count on that," Myrtle explained.

"I'm not saying you're wrong, I just want to know what makes you think its Slytherin's heir," Abraxas told her.

"How many Parselmouths have you encountered, Malfoy?" He was silent. "Precisely."

"But your assumption rests solely on a hypothetical heir unleashing a hypothetical snake that can petrify people," Abraxas protested.

"Yes," Myrtle nodded. "Because that way he can ensure that _only_ his heir could control it."

"What kind of snake can petrify people?" Olive asked.

"A Basilisk," came the quiet reply.

Silence reigned for a few moments, and then Abraxas burst out laughing. "What? That's your great idea? A _Basilisk_?"

"Yes," Myrtle said simply.

"They kill you on sight and are extremely poisonous. There's nothing about petrifaction in any book I've read on Basilisks!" Abraxas burst out.

"Passing right over your freakish knowledge of deadly snakes-" Myrtle began.

"Wait, wait, wait. While you're idea is, of course, completely ridiculous, if Abraxas has unusual knowledge of this Basilisk thingy, then wouldn't he be a suspect?" asked Olive.

Tom Riddle, who had looked absolutely pained at the word 'thingy', shook his head and said, "Abraxas is very good at Care of Magical Creatures; it stands to reason that he would know."

"What about **her** then?" Olive demanded, pointing at Myrtle.

"I should imagine she did research," Tom said mildly. "Although I am rather curious as to how you can explain away the petrifaction instead of death."

"Well, the books are very clear that staring directly at a Basilisk's eyes is fatal, so I figured that maybe if you stared indirectly at it, it could just petrify you," Myrtle explained.

"Here's a question for you: Even if a Basilisk could be capable of Petrification, how do you expect to hide a giant snake and only have it target Mudbloods?"

Myrtle didn't answer and Abraxas looked triumphant.

"Well?" he drawled.

She still didn't answer.

After a few minutes, Eileen Prince looked up from her Gobstone Strategy Guide. "I think she's waiting for an apology."

Abraxas laughed. "Me? Apologize to a I? Now why in the name of Salazaar Slytherin would I do that?"

Eileen shrugged. "I'm not saying you should, I just don't think she'll answer you until you do." Then she returned her attention to her book.

Abraxas appeared to be torn between his pride and his desire to find out more about Myrtle's theory. Eventually, his desire to gain an edge over the rest of the school won out (he was a Slytherin, after all) and he said stiffly, "I'm sorry, Myrtle."

Myrtle nodded, knowing she wasn't likely to get a better apology than that, and said, "Pipes."

"What?" Tom asked, startled.

"It's the only way it could not be seen and still travel all over the school. Hogwarts has an extensive plumbing system and there are pipes in the walls everywhere. It would be easy for a giant snake to travel through them and quickly vanish."

"Does that mean it could be in the _bathrooms_?" Olive demanded, clearly perturbed by this implied lack of privacy.

A great shudder went through the class as the full implications of Myrtle's theory sunk in.

To no one's great surprise, Myrtle fell prey to the monster a week later.

No one knew why, save the thirty students in Potions that day. But they didn't come forward. They knew a warning when they saw it.

Besides, no one really liked that insufferable know-it-all anyway.

Review Please!


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